JUNE 1 • 2023 | 25
plans. Thus, it is a vicious cycle.
In a Journal of the American
Academy of Child Adolescent
Psychiatry article titled
“Patterns of Social Media Use
Among Adolescents Who Are
Psychiatrically Hospitalized,”
experts explain that adolescents’
use of Snapchat “has critical
implications for youths’
psychosocial development.
Research increasingly supports a
differential susceptibility model
of media effects, whereby certain
adolescents show an increased
risk for negative effects of social
media use. In addition, youth with
suicidal thoughts or behaviors are
more likely to experience cyber
victimization and may be at risk for
exposure to suicide-related social
media content.”
Teens are still developing
important psychological aspects
of their being and persona. Many
young people desperately want
others to believe their life is
wonderful, so they post photos and
videos to Snapchat to cause jealousy
among their peer group. Studies
show that Snapchat users very
infrequently post photos and videos
when they are depressed or sitting
alone without friends around. They
tend to only post when they are at
social gatherings, on fun vacations
or generally enjoying “the good
life.”
This is not an accurate expression
of their actual lives and experiences,
but it is a fabrication only showing
what they want others to see. This
causes envy and animosity among
Snapchat users. According to
Melissa Magner, in her article about
social media’s negative implications
on teens’ mental health, “It is
important to understand that social
comparison is especially prominent
in the lives of young people who
are simultaneously developing their
ideas about who they are and where
they fit in amongst their peers.”
WHAT CAN BE DONE
While clinical depression and
anxiety have plagued humans
since the beginning of time, we
are currently seeing a mental
health crisis among teens who use
Snapchat regularly. What can be
done to curb these negative mental
health effects? Snap (the parent
company of Snapchat) is a publicly
traded company. It has a moral
responsibility to ensure its product
is safe for its users, the majority of
whom are impressionable teens.
Snapchat should remove its “Snap
Map” feature that shows where one’s
connections are located using GPS
as this would help minimize the
FOMO feelings among Snapchat
users. Additionally, Snapchat should
limit the number of connections
a user has. This would keep users
from seeing what people outside of
their core friend group are doing.
Snapchat must make changes
immediately to its platform.
Likewise, parents must do more to
understand how Snapchat works
and the detrimental effects it has
on this highly impressionable
generation. Users of Snapchat,
especially adolescents, must seek
to change the way they use the app.
They should try to limit content
that will cause others to feel left
out, which leads to depression and
sometimes suicidal tendencies.
They should attempt to show
more realistic portrayals of their
activities rather than sugarcoating
their experiences of filtering reality.
We all must work together to
ensure the social media experience
of our teen generation is a positive
one. Their mental health depends
on it and the future of our society is
at stake.
Rabbi Jason Miller is a local educator and
technology entrepreneur, who writes the Jews
in the Digital Age column for the Jewish News.
Joshua Miller will begin his sophomore year
at Michigan State University in the Fall. He is a
Media and Information major in the College of
Communication, Arts and Science.
SNAPCHAT